Someone who would keep me on my toes and challenge me and how I thought and felt.
Someone who could be a shoulder to lean on, who could rely on me all the same.
Someone who made even the most mundane things silly because I needed fun. I needed laughter along with a little bit of crazy and a little bit of chaos.
Realizing how ridiculous it all sounded in my head swept away the thoughts like the tide on a shore. I don’t know where they came from, and entertaining them was ineffectual because it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t looking for that. I liked the uncomplicated ease of my life. It didn’t need to change. Like that old saying goes—if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
Lucas and I tossed our cards in annoyance when Blake pulled in the pot after winninganotherhand, grinning smugly. “I see the Army has taught you a few tricks,” I quipped.
Blake chuckled. “Yeah, you could say that.” Gabe began to shuffle the cards while Blake stacked his chips. “Speaking of the Army…I have some news.”
Lucas and I both looked over at that. I noticed the wayGabe’s apprehensive gaze slid to his brother as he shuffled the deck, almost like he knew what he was about to say.
“What news?” Lucas asked.
Blake lifted his head and looked between the two of us. “It’s not a big deal, but…I found out just before I came home that I’m getting deployed.”
My gaze flickered from him to Gabe, whose apprehension now made sense, then back to him. “What the hell do you mean ‘it’s not a big deal’?” I said with a slight bite in my tone. “That sounds like a pretty damn big deal to me.”
“I said ‘not a big deal’ because it’snotactive combat. It’s simply to assist in a medical infirmary. The unit there now has finished their deployment conditions, so they’re coming back, and they need a new unit to replace them. That’s it.”
“And you’re part of that new unit…” Lucas said quietly.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod.
“Can’t you, like, I don’t know…decline?” I knew the answer to that, but I asked anyway.
“No.” Blake chuckled. “It doesn’t work that way. I go where they tell me to go as long as I’m enlisted. But I don’t want anyone to worry or freak out.”
“When?” Lucas asked.
“Three months—April,” Blake answered. “The deployment is nine months, and when I get back, I’ll only have three months left until I’m out for good. And I’ll be home for a couple of weeks beforehand on a pre-deployment block leave, so I’ll be able to see you all before I head out.”
“We’re gonna get him one of those satellite phones so we can talk to him more,” Gabe said with a smile, clearly trying to lift the unease coming from me and Lucas.
Blake nodded. “Yeah. And I’ll be with Noah, my buddy I metduring training when I first joined up, the one in North Carolina with me.”
“The guy from here?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah—well, Charleston, but close enough. But yeah, he’s getting sent out with me, so we’ll have each other over there to keep company and annoy and piss off,” he quipped with a grin.
I didn’t know how he seemed so calm, but I shouldn’t have expected anything less. That was Blake for you. He went into everything he did open and optimistic…even something like a deployment overseas.
“Guys, stop looking so morose,” Blake said, glancing between me and Lucas. “This was something I knew was a likely possibility when I enlisted. And those nine months will fly by, and then three more months, and I’ll be back here, and you’ll probably be wishing I was gone,” he joked.
We both cracked smiles at that, albeit small. “Well…” Lucas let out a breath. “Barring Callie says yes…no wedding will happen until you’re back. I’m not getting married without you standing up there with me.”
Blake pressed a palm to his chest, softening his blue eyes as he fought back a smirk. “I’m touched, Lukey.”
That broke the tension. I dropped my head with a snort while Gabe laughed.
Lucas chuckled. “You’re such an ass.”
Chapter 27
I spentmy Wednesday morning in Grace’s office, reviewing preliminary floor plans for a project of mine. After going through revisions, I plopped onto the small sofa in the seating area by the window while she returned emails. I hadn’t moved in the last hour.
“Comfy over there?”
